A data center, for example, contains a large number, generally thousands or tens of thousands, of electronic devices such as server computers and switches. To cool the electronic devices, an air conditioner is installed in the data center.
It is sometimes the case that the temperature on the air conditioner is set lower to provide a margin so that even if, for example, the temperature of the electronic devices temporarily increases due to increased load on the electronic devices, the increased temperature does not exceed an acceptable level. In this case, the electronic devices are excessively cooled while the load of the electronic devices is comparatively low, and excessive use of the air conditioner increases the power consumption of the data center.
In view of this problem, to reduce the power consumption of the air conditioner, a technology has been proposed in which the electronic devices are cooled, for example, by detecting the temperature of the electronic devices and controlling the output level of the air conditioner based on the detected temperature.
Another proposed technology presenting a different method of cooling electronic devices is designed to cool servers, for example, by disposing evaporators adjacent to the servers and using heat generated by the servers to vaporize a refrigerant of the evaporators.
Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2006-64253
Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2010-270937
Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2009-217500
Such electronic devices may be equipped with fans, such as intake fans for taking air into chassis of the electronic devices and exhaust fans for exhausting air out of the chassis. The rotation of the fans provided in the electronic devices is controlled, for example, by firmware operating on the electronic devices.
However, no conventional technologies as described above have adopted, for their cooling control of electronic devices, the concept of using the fans provided in the electronic devices to cool the electronic devices.